MY TRAVELS THROUGH FOOD

Rasgulla: Indian Cheese Dessert

I grew up eating Indian food, and rasgulla is one of my favorite Indian desserts. They are usually for special occasions, because they take a bit of work, but they are delicious. Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos of the final plated product, because I was too busy eating. The process photos will give you a good idea though. Basically, rasgulla is homemade cheese curd balls boiled in sugar syrup. These are fun to make!

This is not a recipe from the Home Cheese Making, although I wish it were. These curds were too dry because of the commercial milk I used, but Ricki Carroll does have a recipe in her book for chenna, the type of cheese needed for Rasgulla.

Cheese Curd Ingredients:

1 gallon of whole milk (you might want to add some whipping cream, the high fat content helps the cheese be silky, raw milk is the best)
1/2 cup of vinegar or lemon juice

Syrup Ingredients:

8 cups of water (1/2 gallon)
4 cups of sugar
about 8 unbleached cardamom pods
a splash of rose water (optional, but very nice)

Directions:

1. Heat the milk slowly in a large pot making sure that it doesn’t burn. As soon as it comes to a boil turn off the heat and pour in the acid. Gently stir the milk until it curdles completely and the whey is clear.

2. Gently spoon the curds into a cheesecloth. Rinse the curds under filtered water until all of the acid smell is gone. Allow the cheese to drain for around 30 minutes.

3. Remove the ball of curds and knead it until it is silky smooth and can be formed into 1 inch balls. Most commercially available milk doesn’t get too soft. Mine was a little difficult to shape. Don’t use ultra-pasturized milk. Pasteurized is okay though.

4. In another large pot begin making the syrup. Boil all of the syrup ingredients together.

5. Gently drop some of the rasgulla into the boiling syrup. Make sure they don’t crowed. You may need to cook multiple batches. Boil them until they swell up and are slightly squeaky when you bite them.

6. You may serve them hot or cold with a little bit of they syrup. They are pretty served with rose petals and crushed pistachio.